


Sokka’s Specificity is Inconvenient

by The_Wicked_Diamond



Series: Zukka Week 2021 [4]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: M/M, Marriage Proposal, Secret Relationship, Zuko is an Awkward Turtleduck, but it’s an accident, love that tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-17
Updated: 2021-03-17
Packaged: 2021-03-26 12:09:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30105753
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Wicked_Diamond/pseuds/The_Wicked_Diamond
Summary: All Zuko really wanted was to propose to Sokka. Of course, he also wanted to make it super special, because Sokka deserves the best.Zukka week day 4: SWT and Secret Relationship
Relationships: Bato & Zuko (Avatar), Bato/Hakoda (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Zukka Week 2021 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2209716
Comments: 4
Kudos: 74





	Sokka’s Specificity is Inconvenient

**Author's Note:**

> Wow. Day four already. This was written in the span of like two days, so be warned.

Zuko was nervous. No, that wasn’t the right word. Zuko was terrified. The war had been over for seven years, and he and Sokka together for six, and yet he was still unsure about where he stood with everyone. Hakoda said he had forgiven Zuko, but did he really mean it? Maybe he pretended to forgive Zuko but Zuko still has to prove himself before Hakoda can fully accept him. At least Bato has never been quiet about his dislike of Zuko. The Fire Lord knew exactly where he stood with Bato, and that was good enough for him.

Sokka had been excited for weeks. They were heading back to the Southern Water Tribe to celebrate their sixth anniversary and see everyone again. Zuko was just glad he had the forethought to ask Uncle to come take his place while he was otherwise occupied. 

Zuko was terrified of how the Southern Water Tribe would react to his presence. But that wasn’t the only reason. Zuko was planning to propose to Sokka, and he wanted to do it in the traditional Water Tribe fashion with his own Fire Nation twist. He’d brought a Fire Lily and kept it carefully preserved and out of Sokka’s sight for this exact purpose. His only problem was that he had no idea how the Southern Water Tribe got engaged. Which meant that he had to ask someone. Preferably not Sokka because that would ruin the surprise. He can’t ask Hakoda because of previously stated reasons. He can’t ask Kanna for the same reasons. So he had to ask Bato. Which led to his current situation.

He was standing in Bato and Hakoda’s hut. Hakoda had taken Sokka out hunting earlier, and Bato had stayed back because he’d hurt his knee on the last one and Kanna had forbidden him from going until it had healed. Zuko figured that was the best time to ask Bato about his proposal.

Zuko opened the flap to their hut and walked in. Immediately, he was dodging a boomerang (which he was monitoring because that was a mistake he would only make once).

“Hey!” He shouted, hands up. Bato was sitting next to a fire with his club in his hand, the other one empty (his boomerang hand). “It’s just me.”

“What are you doing here? I almost killed you.” Zuko could tell that the annoyance was from nearly starting another war, not from nearly killing his maybe future son-in-law.

“I, uh, I have a question,” he said, unsure. Just because he knew where he stood with Bato didn’t mean it was a good standing. “Um, I need to- I mean, I don’t know… I’m not sure…”

“Just spit it out already.” Bato turned to face the fire, and Zuko definitely saw the edges of a scowl on his face. He felt his cheeks heat.

“I’m uh, I want to do this traditionally and I also want to respect Sokka-“ and did Bato’s eyes just crinkle in confusion?- “and I want to be able to mix our cultures, so howdoIproposeintheSouthernWaterTribe?” He rushed out. Bato froze. Went completely still. The club, still clenched in his hand, dropped to his side. “Uh, sir?” Bato took a deep breath.

“Why do you want to know how we propose?” Zuko felt his heart stop. Did he need to ask permission to propose? He didn’t know. That was why he was  _ asking  _ in the first place. Maybe Bato didn’t approve, and now he was going to get sent back to the Fire Nation, and he would have to break up with Sokka. Oh, what would Sokka say? He wouldn’t like this, but Zuko didn’t want to make him choose between himself and his Tribe? He would have to- 

“Stop.” Bato’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “I can see you thinking. Who are you proposing to?” Zuko blinks.

“Who?” Zuko cannot fathom why Bato would ask that. “Uh, Sokka, obviously.”

“Sokka? Why would you propose to Sokka?” And now Zuko knew there was a miscommunication somewhere along the line, because there was no way Sokka willingly lied to his family about Zuko. No way Sokka lied to Zuko about telling his family. Because that would imply that Sokka is ashamed of Zuko, and that just wasn’t possible. Or was it? And there goes all of the confidence Sokka helped him build in the past six years. Deep down, he always had a feeling that Sokka wasn’t as proud of him as he seemed. There was no way. The only person truly proud of Zuko completely was Uncle, and that was because Zuko had disappointed him and Uncle had seen his lowest and Uncle knows how far Zuko has come. Unless he thinks Zuko can do better? Zuko was spiraling into a panic attack, could feel it coming, and the only person he wanted was the person at the center of it. Then there was hand reaching towards him-  _ his face, oh no, oh Agni, it’s the right side, he wants to scar my whole face, wants to complete the job _ but the hand was darker than Ozai’s and it wasn’t on fire and there was Water Tribe blue on the body the hand came from and it landed on his shoulder not hit face and a voice was telling him to  _ just breathe _ so Zuko inhaled sharply and exhaled quickly and did that several times until it wasn’t so quick and sharp. Bato looked concerned, and that was just another thing to add to Zuko’s confusion, but if he thought too hard about it he’d start panicking again.

“Zuko,” Bato said, voice firm but gentle. “Have a seat.” Bato guided Zuko to the floor and sat down himself. “Now, you are going to explain to me what is going on without working yourself into a panic.” Zuko nodded.

“Sokka and I have been dating for six years, and our anniversary is coming up, and I wanted to propose to him on it.” Zuko hesitated, trying to read the look on Bato’s face, but the man wasn’t giving anything away. “He told me that everyone here knew about us.” Bato shook his head and sighed.

“Hakoda, Sokka, you daft idiots,” Bato whispered to himself. Zuko’s eyebrows pinched together. Bato elaborated. “The good news is that Sokka definitely told us about you.” Zuko did not know how that was good news. “The other sort-of-good news is that we definitely did not realize it was you that he was talking about.” And suddenly everything made much more sense. His boyfriend must have been unclear in his letters (as he was known to do), and his family got confused. Zuko’s palm found his forehead.

“I can’t believe I want to marry this idiot,” he said. Then he blushed furiously because said idiot’s maybe-step-dad was sitting right there. At least the man was…  _ grinning _ ?

“You’ll be marrying into a family of them. The women are the only ones with common sense, and Katara took hers with her. The rest of us got all the brawn.”

“Sokka is plenty intelligent,” Zuko said, offended on his boyfriend’s behalf. Bato laughed.

“Yeah, on the books. But he’s the one who tried to get a fish hook out of his lip with another fish hook.” Zuko smiled as he remembered Sokka telling him that story. It was his boyfriend’s attempt to take his mind off of a meeting that had gone poorly, and he succeeded.

“He really is special.” Zuko knew he was doing the ‘heart eyes’, as Sokka dubbed them, but he didn’t particularly care. 

“So you want to marry him?” Bato asked.

“Uh, yes. yes, I do. Uh, sir.” Zuko felt shame color his cheeks and he averted his eyes. Of course he wanted to marry Sokka, but he felt like he was making a fool out of himself, and that simply would not do. Zuko looked up and met Bato’s stare. “I want to marry Sokka. I want to spend the rest of my life at his side.” Bato quirked an eyebrow.

“At his side, huh? Not the other way around?” Zuko held firm.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way, nor would I presume to be his better in any form.” Bato smiled.

“You don’t have to prove yourself, kid. I can see you really care for him. And I won’t waste my time on threats, because I’m sure Katara has that covered.” Zuko gulped as he remembered Katara’s shovel talk. Bato noticed and grinned. “You want to marry him. Good. You want to propose based on his culture. Admirable. I’m assuming you don’t know how?”

“Uh, yeah,” Zuko said with a nod. “That’s why I came here in the first place. I know it has something to do with a ribbon, but other than that, I’m lost. I also want to incorporate the Fire Nation’s proposal as well.” 

“And that is?”

“In the Fire Nation, you have to pick a Fire Lily—our Nation’s flower—and weave it into a crown of your choice. Firebenders are allowed to use metal as long as they heat it up with their own fire. Then you get on one knee and present the crown to your beloved. They either accept it or reject it, and that determines the wedding.”

“That sounds easy enough to include.” Zuko smiled as he felt happiness flood his veins. He remembered how much he loved wearing his mom’s engagement crown when he was little. “Okay. In the Water Tribe, the proposer makes the engagement necklace and fastens it to the proposee’s neck. The engagement necklace is a piece of ribbon or cloth that is significant to the couple, and the pendant is a piece of bone carved by the proposer that is unique to the couple. Then, when the moon is highest in the sky, the proposer presents the necklace, the proposee says yes or no—but it’s usually yes—then the proposer fastens it around the other’s neck.”

“Okay. How do I do all of that?”

“Usually the proposee’s father would help you as a sign of his approval of the wedding, but Hakoda would probably manage to screw this up, so I'll help you.” Bato stood up and offered a hand to Zuko. “First things first: we need the ribbon.”

“I know the perfect piece.”

Zuko took Bato back to the igloo he and Sokka were staying in temporarily. He went to his bags and pulled out a decent length of red cloth.

“This was the cloth Sokka used to blindfold me on our first date.” Bato gave him a look. Zuko turned as red as the ribbon. “To keep the location a surprise! Nothing else.” Bato said nothing, so Zuko left it at that.

Bato grabbed his knife and helped Zuko cut the cloth to slightly larger than their estimate of Sokka’s neck (which was just wrapping the cloth around Zuko’s neck and guessing from there). Bato attached the clasps to both ends.

The next step was the bone. Zuko wanted to just use the bone from whatever animal Sokka and Hakoda brought back, but Bato told him that it must come from something he hunted himself. So the two would be hunting the next day with the excuse of ‘bonding’.

  
  
  


The dinner that night was a caribou-moose Sokka and Hakoda managed to take down. Somehow, Sokka ended up with a sprained ankle, and it apparently was not from their catch. Zuko didn’t even want to ask. At least the meat was good.

Zuko and Sokka retired to their igloo and Zuko went to bed in his soon-to-be fiancé’s embrace. It kept him warm and made him feel safer. He fell asleep pretty quickly.

  
  
  


The next morning, Zuko met Bato at the edge of the village with his dao swords strapped to his back. They weren’t exactly hunting tools, but it wasn’t like he had anything else. Bato simply signed when he saw them. At least Zuko had fire bending as well.

The hunt went as well as Zuko expected. Which was to say, they managed, but barely. They got an otter-penguin, and Bato said that they had pretty good bones for engagement pendants.

They went to Zuko’s hut this time because Hakoda and Sokka were discussing some tribal matters at Bato’s place.

Zuko was glad the otter had a lot of bones. Because otherwise, he would not be proposing to Sokka.

Finally, after over two hours of carving (and a lot of help from Bato), Zuko had a presentable pendant. He carved a mix of the Fire and Water symbols. The flames of the Fire symbol melted into the waves of the Water symbol. Zuko was sort of proud of it.

Bato attached the pendant to the ribbon, then handed it to Zuko. It looked beautiful. 

Zuko pulled out the Fire Lily from his bag, the stem carefully wrapped with a damp cloth that he had changed regularly to prevent freezing and other unfortunate outcomes. He gently removed the petals and connected them to the ribbon around the pendant, replicating the shape of the Fire Lily. When he was finished, he felt tears come to his eyes. It was beautiful, for lack of more descriptive terms; gorgeous, eye-catching, heart-stopping—perfect for Sokka.

He felt Bato’s hand on his shoulder (and surprisingly did not flinch) and looked up. Bato had a warm smile on his face.

“I know he’ll say yes, son. I saw the way he was looking at you last night. We have been blind not to notice anything going on.” Zuko returned the smile.

“Thank you. That really means a lot to me.” Zuko blinked back the barely-there tears. “Our anniversary is tomorrow.”

“On the night of a full moon, no less. It would appear the spirits themselves are blessing this union.” Zuko bit his bottom lip.

“I’m still worried. What if something goes wrong?” Bato squeezed his shoulder.

“Then it goes wrong. But it won’t change the fact that you love Sokka, and he loves you right back.” Zuko nodded and let out a breath.

“Okay. When the moon is highest, I need you to lead him to the fountain. I’ll meet you there.”

“What will you be doing?” Zuko grinned nervously.

“Hopefully something spectacular.”

  
  
  


The next night, after they ate dinner around the group campfire, Zuko slipped away from Sokka. He went back to their igloo and grabbed the necklace. Then he went to the fountain. He got to his knees and pressed his hands to his forehead.

“Yue,” he whispered. “Give me your guidance. I know we never met, but I feel like I know you just from his stories. You were wonderful, and I wish you hadn’t had to do what you did to save the moon. Still, I am certainly grateful for your sacrifice. Please watch over him whenever I am unable to. I hope I have your blessing for this union.” Zuko felt a touch on his forehead that felt like a kiss of light. He opened his eyes and saw a glowing young woman.

“Hello, Zuko, son of Agni. I am Tui, though you know me as Yue. Thank you for taking care of him. I see how happy you make him. Understand that you are both blessed by many spirits, myself included. Do not be scared by what the future brings. I simply ask that whatever happens, you face it together. Goodbye Zuko.” She kissed his head again and then Zuko blinked and she was gone. He smiled, knowing that the spirits were behind this wedding. He knew that no matter what happened, he would always stay by Sokka’s side.

He stood up and saw Bato leading Sokka over. Sokka had a confused look on his face. Zuko smiled and sent out a flame behind him. A circle of dragon fire surrounded the fountain. Sokka gasped. Zuko was just glad it worked.

“Zuko?” He asked. “What’s this about?” Sokka walked over and stood in front of Zuko. Zuko noticed that most of the village had followed. That was fine. Totally fine. All that mattered was Sokka was here.

Slowly, Zuko got down on one knee. Sokka gasped again.

“I have loved you since the first time you took me on a date through the streets of Caldera with a blind fold on, not allowing me to guess our destination. We ended up on a hill just outside the city, gazing at the stars. We could see both the entire city and the vastness of the sky. You had discovered this place one time while you were visiting and Aang and Katara were being ‘oogie’.” Sokka huffed a laugh. “The view was beautiful, but I was unable to keep my eyes off of you the whole time. Then you leaned in and kissed me, and I knew even thousands of stars could not have compared to that moment. I have loved you, even when you leave on trips to visit your family and Aang and Toph. I have loved you, even when you stay up late inventing something and you forget to come to bed, so I have to drop out of the workshop. I have loved you for all this time, and I will continue to love you until the end of it. I want to live next to you, spend my days at your side forever. Will you grant me my wish?” With that, Zuko presented the necklace. Sokka’s hands flew to his mouth and tears came to his eyes. He reached out a hand to pull Zuko up, but as he stood, he slipped on the ice, tumbling into the fountain and bringing Sokka with him. They were soaked from head to toe. The man burst out laughing as he kissed Zuko.

“Yes,” he said. “A thousand times yes. Let’s please get out of this fountain before we freeze to death.” Zuko obliged him (and also heated the air around them to dry them a bit faster). The flower petals were ruined, but they would not have lasted anyway. At least the necklace itself stayed intact. Zuko wrapped it around Sokka’s neck and fastened the clasps. Sokka’s smile was full of love and warmth when he turned back around and kissed Zuko, the Tribe members all but forgotten.

It was okay because now they all knew (although he still needed to have a talk with Sokka about specificity) and Zuko was going to spend the rest of his life bound to his one true love and that was more than Zuko could have ever asked for all those years ago when his face burned in an arena and he was banished from his home.

It was okay because he was going to marry Sokka and live with him until the end of their days.

Everything was okay.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m not as proud of this one, but I hope you guys enjoyed it. Leave a kudos and a comment if you’re feeling frisky.
> 
> For day five, since it is a five + one, I’m going to post the first part (because it’s the only one I have written) then post the rest as chapters as I finish them.


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